I Saw It First
by CrazyLabRat
Summary: Sara just can't understand men sometimes... and sometimes she needs to give two male co-workers their respective 'kick in the pants'. Even if they have no idea that she's doing it.


A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven't been around much! The final chapter of CBH will be following this upload, shortly. Just some small edits to take care of. Anywho... this is short and kind of weird but I grew fond of it as I edited it more and more. I do hope you'll enjoy it. As always, please read and review!

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You know when an idea or an observation just pops into your brain and it won't shut the hell up or leave you alone until you've done something about it? When you can't get a problem out of your head until you've figured it out or solved the mystery? Well it happens to me, _often_. And most of them are usually cases. But they are dealt with in a timely manner and then I move on to the next one. However, every so often there is one that just takes the cake. Well, this is the story of one of those times.

Okay, so it goes like this:

Nick and Greg.

Breakfast at the diner.

You never see one there without the other anymore.

Not so odd if you don't dwell on it too long, sure… but still.

It wasn't obvious or anything. I mean… No one really noticed it, because it was such a minor detail, but I noticed. I saw it. Those light touches that were meant to look friendly but lingered just a little too long. Those glances that they shared, the ones that turned the space between them into pure electricity. I watch them all the time now. Still unsure if they've actually done anything about their obvious mutual attraction or not, but it never lacked in entertainment. Sometimes I'm sure they have. So sure that they know each other intimately, in a way that only lover's could… I catch them standing close, unblinking every so often. It looks like they might just kiss right then and there. But other times I have some serious doubts. They blush and stutter as if they're fifteen years old. Like the awkwardness of youth never left them, and they don't really know how to proceed. It's rather amusing, if not utterly adorable and I can't help but notice. And so the dance continues.

I don't know when the thought occurred to me for the first time, exactly. But I do remember blinking in utter surprise, because it was true. No one else seemed to take note of it, but for some strange reason, my brain saw fit to stand up and announce it. We were out at breakfast, you see. The whole gang was there. Brass, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg and I were all seated around a rather large circular table. I smiled and laughed with everyone while my eyes drifted around the table. Greg had finally made it into the ranks. A fact he was immensely proud of. Not that he shouldn't be or anything. To do what he did was quite the feat.

He really is something, that one.

Anyhow, I just remember noticing that they always sat next to each other, at first. I don't know what made me dwell on it. Maybe it was just my training kicking in. Gil always said I never seemed to take a break from the job. Maybe he was right.

But I digress…

I thought back over the past few months… _really_ thought. But there was no denying it. Whenever Greg said he couldn't make it to breakfast, Nick never showed for it either. It was either they both were there, or neither would be.

Once I'd noticed that, though, it was only a matter of time before other pieces slipped into place.

Like the day I noticed that they always seemed to sit next to each other, it was like the floodgates opened. I saw all sorts of things going on between them. Like the way they would quietly speak with one another. Not quite whispering because we could all still hear them if we cared to pay attention, but they'd be talking amongst themselves, just the same. Leaning into each other's personal space ever so slightly before backing off again. Like a game…

It almost looked like they were waiting to see who would break first.

Greg leans in, and its like a bell had rung somewhere. Like he was saying: _Tag, you're it_. He'd be leaning back not a moment after. Then in a beat or two, Nick would do the same, leaning closer to Greg. For absolutely no reason at all, they could hear each other just fine. This song and dance would persist through the meal and continue long after the bill was paid. They never left with the rest of us anymore, either.

In fact, there was one time that I found I wasn't able to sleep… A case just wouldn't let go of my brain, so I'd gone out for some coffee and a distraction. I'd happened by the diner three hours later, and both of their cars were still there. Curious, I pulled in and watched them for a moment. Greg had his head thrown back. Laughing brightly while Nick smiled and spoke in the quiet way he always seemed to when it came to Greg. I smiled, and left them to it.

It wasn't until about a year later that I'd decided I'd had just about enough. It was almost painful now. Because something had shifted between them… Something major had happened, and it had thrown their whole dance out of whack.

Greg was acting _strangely_.

Well, strangely even for Greg. Not to anyone else, really. Nothing he did was out of the ordinary when it came to most everyone, in fact. Well…

Everyone except Nick…

He would still sit next to the older man. Still had conversations that seemed private even when surrounded by all of us… but his demeanor had changed. Seemingly overnight. He wasn't leaning into Nick's personal space anymore. Wasn't going out of his way to place a light pat to Nick's arm or a squeeze to his shoulder. Something was terribly, horribly _wrong_.

I'd promised myself at some point, that I wasn't going to interfere. Swore that I'd let them do things at their own pace, but it was getting out of hand.

Nick had noticed, too. And the looks he sometimes wore when Greg walked away… They _hurt_, just seeing them. My resolve to stay out of it had broken after witnessing one of those very looks. And as such, I'd decided that I would seek one of them out and try to find a way to bring it out in conversation, unobtrusively of course. It turned out that I didn't have to go to either one of them, though.

Nick… He came to me.

I was in the lab, piecing together a document that had been shredded. I was leaning over the light table, carefully pulling each piece apart before trying to put them all back together in their proper place. It was a daunting task that was going to take days, if not weeks to finish, easily. But it would be an accomplishment to be proud of, once I'd finished.

He'd appeared at my side, with two cups of Greg's Blue Hawaiian and a smile. So far, he was the only one who could ever figure out wherever Greg chose to hide it, a fact that Greg wasn't privy to. Oh, he knew _someone_ was taking it at his or her leisure. He simply had no idea who. I'd asked Nick once, how he always knew where to look. But he'd only smiled and said something like 'You just have to know how he thinks.' _Right_. Like anyone could predict that.

I blinked a bit as he pulled up a chair, smiling winningly at me, and held one of the cups aloft for me to take. "This is going to take you ages. Might as well stop for a minute and have a break." I was going to point out that if I stopped now, it'd take longer, but something in his expression stalled my tongue. I arched a curious eyebrow and nodded once, before taking the pre-offered cup. Who was I to turn down great coffee, after all?

"It's not like it's going anywhere." Again, he smiled, and his shoulders relaxed a bit. Making it glaringly obvious that he'd been expecting a bit of a fight. I frowned lightly as I took a sip, trying not to take offense. Because, if this were any other time his assumption would probably have been right on the money. "So… What can I do for you, Nicky?" It was his turn to frown as he glanced down into his cup. After a long minute, I realized that he was debating on what he was going to say. I took another sip and waited patiently.

"Have you noticed? I mean, has Greg… Has he seemed a little odd to you, lately? Like, acting a little differently, or anything?" Outwardly, I blinked slightly in surprise while I pretended to mull the question over. Inwardly, however, I was smiling brightly.

"No. Not that I can think of. I mean, he's our little weirdo, so he's always been odd. But I haven't noticed anything different about him."

He bit his lip and nodded to himself. Like he knew what my answer would be before Id given it. "Oh, okay. So it's just…" And then he trailed off. But I'd heard his unspoken thoughts just as clearly as if he'd screamed them.

'_So it's just with me, then._'

I sighed lightly and tried to think my words through carefully, before I voiced them. "Did something happen between you too? Did you argue or something?" He blinked and raised his eyes back to mine. Surprise clearly written in them as he shook his head.

"No… not at all. It's nothing like that. In fact, I don't think Greggo and I have ever really argued, about anything. No, it's… it's something else." I tilted my head, indicating that I was waiting for him to continue. "Well, I mean… I don't know what. He's just started… He's been a little different lately. I was hoping you might have some idea why. I miss…" He trailed off for a second, deciding to change his words at the last moment. "His company. He hasn't seemed to want to hang out or anything anymore. I just thought… that maybe you... That maybe he'd talked to you about it or something."

I shook my head once in the negative, because it was true. Greg hadn't mentioned anything to me about it. There had been a sudden increase in our drinking days as of late, sure. But other then that, no, he hadn't breathed a word of it. I'd been hoping that he would, but I'm not supposed to know, right? Right. So I haven't broached the subject. I know Greg, and he'll bring it up when he's ready… but I'll admit that I'm getting tired of waiting. "Do you want me to ask after it, for you? It seems to be bothering you, so…"

Nick shook his head and sighed again. "No, that's alright. Thanks anyway, though. I think maybe… maybe I'll ask him myself." I nodded once and hid my smile with my coffee cup.

"I think that might be best." He was gone soon after that with a 'Thanks Sara' and a wave. Only a few short minutes passed before I was bent over my work once again.

Two days later, Greg and I had closed our respective cases and he'd invited me out for a beer or three. I accepted and not an hour later we could be found at one of our usual haunts, off strip of course. And we drank, talking about whatever came to mind. Sharing stories about one thing or another. But really, I was just biding my time. Because I knew that if I got him drunk enough, he was bound to say something. Though, it was funny… Because we were only about four beers in, when he said something, all on his own.

"Hey, Sara… Have you ever liked someone, for a really long time, but you didn't know it? I mean, like, you had no idea… Until one day, it's just kind of staring you in the face?" I frowned at him as I took a swig from my bottle and shook my head once. He decided, helpfully, to elaborate. "Like you weren't even aware that you were flirting with someone, or that you were attracted to them? It's the weirdest thing, you know? I mean, how can you _not_ know, right?"

So that's what had happened. The weirdo hadn't even realized he was attracted to Nick. That he'd been flirting subconsciously, this whole time. Wow. That must have been one hell of a revelation for him. I suppressed the urge to laugh, knowing full well that it would do nothing to help in this situation.

It made perfect sense though, now that I think about it. That's why Greg and Nick had been dancing around each other for so long. Greg hadn't even known that he was playing, let alone that there was a game in the first place…

Poor Nicky.

"So what's the problem? You like someone, right? And you've been flirting… There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly natural to flirt with the people you're attracted to. And yeah, it took you longer then most to figure it out…But so what? The point is, you know now, yeah? But here's the million-dollar question…" I trailed off for effect, partially because it amused me, but mostly because I'd wanted another drink from my bottle. I took a long draught then turned to him with a smile.

"Have _they_ been flirting _back_?" Of course I already knew the answer. Nick had been flirting the whole time, but Nicky was a gentlemen. Plus, he probably wanted Greg to make the first move. After all, he'd had the reputation of a lady-killer for years now, which would certainly prove difficult to overcome when trying to pursue a man. And now that Greg had gone cold on him, he probably figured that he'd gone wrong somewhere. Men can be so irritating at times… And even the smartest of the bunch can be so damned dense. Normally I don't really pay it much mind, but right now, it's so annoying to watch. I sighed and came back from my musings to turn to Greg, expecting some type of reply.

But he'd simply gone quiet after that.

Like, didn't speak another word for the rest of the night, kind of quiet. Which was okay. My point had gotten across and he was taking the time to think it over, a fact that pleased me immensely. Perhaps now they'd stop pussyfooting around and do something they should have done some five plus years ago.

It was another few days before Greg came out to breakfast with the group again, and of course, Nicky followed. I was very pleased to see them conversing amongst themselves not two minutes after sitting down. And when Greg's tentative hand touched Nick's elbow, staying there a second longer then necessary, Nick's eyes lit up. His resulting smile to Greg was blinding, and he leaned into his personal space for just a second. Grinning even wider when Greg did the same in turn not a minute later. And just like that, the game was on again. Only this time, Nick's touches happened more frequently, and even though Greg's were obviously timid and nervous, they were there. That's what counted.

We barely got a goodbye from either of them when the rest of us took our leave. But it was just as well. I remember thinking '_Perhaps they'll finally talk things through tonight. That would certainly be nice._'

As luck would have it, though, they didn't end up talking about it. I could tell because their exchanges were still a little awkward from Greg's side, but that was okay because he was trying. And it was the cutest thing ever, really. Because Greg was really timid, but obviously happy… And Nick? Well, Nick was really happy, too… so happy was he just to have their little thing between them back, that he'd take whatever he could get. That much was obvious. The days went by as they tend to do, and things seemed to be back to normal for them.

But even so, it wasn't enough. Because the longing in Nick's eyes became more pronounced. It was practically written all over his face whenever Greg walked into a room, but left to his own devices, I was certain that he'd leave things as they were. It was still up to Greg. Whether he knew it or not, he was calling all the shots.

And it looked like he was going to need another push. Well, so much for not interfering, eh? But I made a silent promise to myself that I'd only do it this one last time. Then, if it didn't work, to hell with them.

So it was with this resolve in mind that instead of all of us going out to breakfast again, after shift I invited Greg out for a drink. I knew he wouldn't think anything of it, because it was our routine to drink together at least once a week. And it had been a little while since our last outing. We were about due. So we ended up at the same bar, on the same stools a little while later. Greg was particularly happy this time around. He was more at ease then I've seen him in months.

I found that it was really nice to see.

I waited until our fifth beer before I mentioned anything. But only because that was when we finally had a lag in conversation. He'd been being his happy chatterbox self for most of the day… Not that I was complaining, mind you. It was just becoming a bit of a problem right then. But only because I just really wanted to get the whole conversation over with. "So… whatever happened with that person you like? You ever figure out if they've been flirting back?"

His smile was as bright as his eyes when he nodded. "I did, actually. Only thing left now is to figure out if they're just doing it for fun, or if it's for real. It can be kind of hard to tell sometimes, you know?" I swear I could have hit him upside the head with my beer bottle right then. I settled instead, on a deep breath, and a swig of its contents before pressing further.

"Well… do they flirt with other people? The same way that they flirt with you, I mean?" The look on his face a moment later, was proof enough that he'd never thought to ask that question before this very moment. And the answer that his mind supplied him with was certainly a welcomed one, if the giant grin that split his face a beat later was any indication. I chuckled into my beer, mumbling. "Looks like you have your answer then, now don't you?" The 'Huh?' that I received in reply proved that he hadn't heard me though. I smiled and ordered another beer, waving the question away. "Nothing. You want another one?"

He nodded and then proceeded to babble about any and everything under the sun. I pretended not to notice when every subject somehow brought Nick's name into the conversation. I am such a good friend, I know.

It was the very next day that the fruits of my labor showed some signs of growth. Nick and I had been sitting in the break room chatting about our respective cases while we waited for our evidence to be processed, when Greg walked in. He looked at me, suddenly hesitant, scrubbing the back of his neck nervously. I opened the magazine I'd brought in and pretended not to hear his sigh of relief. "Hey Greggo. What's up?"

"Hey Nick can we…?" Greg must have motioned for Nick to follow him, instead of actually saying anything more, because that's all I heard until Nick's chair scraped across the floor.

"Sure thing, G." I counted to four before standing and moving to follow. I'd only just caught sight of Nick as they'd turned the corner, heading for a mostly deserted hallway on the other side of the lab. It wasn't hard to follow them once I'd realized where they were headed. I kept a safe distance, waiting until they'd turned a corner before moving to catch up. I didn't want to ruin the moment for any of us by getting caught.

A few minutes later, they finally stopped near a locked back entrance that almost no one used. I had to strain to hear, but thankfully it was quiet enough that I could just barely make out the conversation.

"Alright, so now that you're sure that we're totally alone, what can I do for you?" There was no mistaking the humor in Nick's voice. Though I'd imagine that he was just happy to have Greg's attention all to himself for a while. That usually kept him pretty peppy, at any rate.

I quietly dropped down low to the floor, fully intending to peek around the corner. I didn't want to miss this for the world. "Okay… so I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I think… I think maybe you like me."

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. I had no idea that Greg had planned on being so bold. The surprise turned to amusement however when the look on Greg's face revealed that he hadn't meant to be so direct right off the bat. He always did have trouble controlling his mouth when he was nervous. Still, you had to hand it to the kid, because he just kept on plowing forward anyway. Nick, for his part, seemed to be blinking an awful lot for no apparent reason. One might attribute this to shock, but I wasn't close enough to be able to tell for sure. Especially since his mouth wasn't hanging open. But maybe he'd forgotten how it worked by then… Who knew?

"Look. Everyone here knows that I flirt with pretty much anything that moves, but it's not… it's just different with you. Especially when I realized that you were flirting back… And I just... I wanted to… but then… and I… I don't want to play games anymore. I just think that… I want to… Christ. You know what? Fuck it."

And Greg reached up, fisting his left hand into Nick's faded tee shirt, while the right hand came up to cup the back of his neck. It felt like an eternity had passed but really it was just a long moment as they stared into each other's eyes, and then Greg was kissing Nick. Just the barest press of lips to lips, nothing too forward. But then it was like I blinked and within that tenth of a second I'd missed everything. Suddenly, Nick had Greg pinned to the wall, and the kiss that had started out so innocently was now actually pretty damned lewd. The older man had one hand sliding up into Greg's hair while the other traced down his side, to his thigh, where it gently coaxed Greg's leg to wrap around Nick's waist. They were panting words into each other's mouths, but I was too far away to make anything else out. Beyond the whines and sighs and moans they shared, that is.

It wasn't until Nick was rocking his hips into Greg's, who's own readily rose to meet them, that I blinked and finally moved to leave. Deciding that this was far too private a scene to continue to spy on. Besides, I didn't have a thing for gay porn.

I was grinning the grin of the smug and victorious by the time I got back to the break room, though. Yeah, I was pretty damn pleased with myself. And why shouldn't I be? I'd been right, after all. And I loved seeing a good story through to the end. And I had. Well, for the most part. I mean it was their story so I could only read so far, but still. It was one that only two other people were privy too. And that was pretty cool. Plus, no one would ever guess that I'd go so far as to play the secret matchmaker, even if it was for everyone's favorite little weirdo.

It was like my own private joke. And it would certainly be cause for much amusement in the future. That is, until they're caught or they choose to tell other people, of course. But for now, Catherine is going to be bugging Nicky for weeks trying to figure out who his new girl is. And Gil, well he'll know that something big has happened, he always does, after all. But he won't be able to guess what it is. And it'll be fun watching that drive him up the wall. The only person who might figure it out before the others is Warrick.

But that would only be because he'd probably show up at Nick's house one morning unannounced, only to find Greg there with Nick, and almost certainly in a very compromising position.

Oh, but what I wouldn't give to see that scenario play out.

I sat back down in my chair and resumed reading my abandoned magazine, while I sipped my coffee, my reward to myself for a job well done. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Then again, maybe I'd go out to a nice place for breakfast or something later. When Catherine came in looking for Greg, I muttered something about lunch, and when 'Rick came to find his best friend, I shrugged and told him to try DNA.

And when Nick and Greg finally re-entered the break room well over an hour later… Both of their lips were kiss swollen. Nick's face was flushed and Greg's hair was wild and sticking out at all sorts of odd angles, just like it used to be when he was still a lab rat. I smiled up at them and pretended not to notice. I let my eyes wander away when they shared what they thought were covert glances at one another. Grinning and chuckling together at random intervals, like they were back in high school or something. It was okay, though. I didn't mind.

Let them think that they've got a secret. That no one knows. And years from now, when everyone is talking about it, I'll smile brightly at their stories of how they each in turn figured it out. I'll let everyone think that they've put together every piece to this puzzle. They'll have no idea. It won't matter, though… because I'll know. After all…

I saw it first.


End file.
